Police Clearance Certificate also known as Arrest Record, Behaviour Certificate, No Objection Certificate,Certificate of Conduct, Rap Sheet, Criminal Record Certificate is a certificate issued by the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Cervices pertaining the criminal record of a individual in South Africa.

• The Police Clearance Certificate is valid for a period of 12 months although it is up to the end-user ( organisation whom requires the certificate ) to determine the acceptable age of the certificate.

• A re-issue of a Police clearance can be obtained within the first 6 months from the initial issue of the certificate.

• To obtain a South African Police Clearance certificate a full set of fingerprints with Identification of the applicant must is needed. Only original fingerprints are accepted. Original prints of electronic prints are acceptable.

• The issue of a Police Clearance Certificate usually takes between 15 and 25 working days.

• Original Police clearance certificates can be apostilled, authenticated at embassy's and /or translated if necessary.

Under certain circumstances a Police Clearance is needed for Motor vehicles.

A) Stolen Recovered Vehicles: It is important that a Stolen Recovered Vehicle that is recovered must must be presented to the SAPS to be police cleared, Before the vehicle is presented for a police clearance the investigating officer must first remove the S mark.

If a Police Clearance is not obtained after a stolen vehicle is recovered then:

• Vehicle Licenses can not be renewed.

• Transfer of ownership cannot be effected.

• Driver of a vehicle shown as stolen can be arrested.

B) Engine Change It is important that the e-natis system is updated with the new engine number. Omitting this process will result that a Road Worthy Certificate cannot be obtained and in the result of a insurance claim the identification of the vehicle can be compromised.

C) Vehicle Export Police Clearance or a SARPCO Clearance is needed to export any vehicle from South Africa.

The following vehicles are included In the definition. Motor cars,trucks,tractors,motorbikes,trailers etc. The vehicles must be physically presented to the SAPS at designated SAPS identification points.

D) When leaving South African Borders with your vehicle it is advisable to obtain a police Clearance to confirm that the vehicle is not stolen.

E) Data Dot or Micro Dotting: From September 2013 it is compulsory that all new vesicles sold in south Africa are Data Dotted. It is also a pre-requisite that all vehicles needing a Police clearance must also Data Dotted.

E) Vehicle Export Permit is needed when a vehicle is exported from South Africa. The export permit can only be obtained after a Police Clearance for the vehicle has been obtained. The Export permit is obtained from ITAC in Pretoria. Although fax copies of Export permits are legally acceptable it seems that cross border agencies prefer the originals due to the high incidence of fraud and vehicle theft .

Legalisation and Authentication of Documents

Under certain circumstances it is required to legalise and authenticate documents including educational certificates. It depends on the the intended use and target country what process must be followed.

A) Authentication of Degrees and Diplomas at the Department of Education.

B) Authentication of Lower Education Certificates by UMALUSI

C) Authentication of medical certificates by the HPCSA

D) Apostille is a certificate which verifies and confirms the seal and signature of person who authenticated the document. This process is also called certification or authentication although the latter is different forms of authentication. Apostille is only issued for members who are party to the La Hague convention who issues a Apostille. There are designated authorities in every country to issue Apostille certificates or legalisation. Apostilles are commonly issued for various documents which has a legal value like birth and marriage certificates, contracts, divorce degrees, related to adoption cases, for commercial documents, for official documents related to vital statistics, and for court records, land records, school documents and patent applications.

If copies of documents has to be Apostille the documents must be certified by a notary, then confirmed by the High Court after which a Apostille will be issued.

E) For countries whom is not party to the La-hague convention documents must be presented to the target country Embassy.

Birth Certificates from South Africa

There are three types of Birth certificates available and the intended use will dictate the appropriate certificate.

A) Abridged birth certificate: This certificate is computer printed and mostly only shows the persons details like Id number, Surname and Full names. The latest certificates can also show the mothers details.

B) Unabridged Birth Certificate also shows the parents details. This unabridged Birth certificate is the only certificate that can be legalised by Authentication or Apostille.

C) Vault Copy is a certified copy of the original document used to register the birth.

MarriageCertificates from South Africa

There are three types of Marriage Certificates available and the intended use will dictate the appropriate certificate.

A) Abridged Marriage certificate: This certificate is computer printed and mostly only shows the persons's details like Id number, Surname and Full names and the date of the marriage

B) Unabridged Birth Certificate also shows shows information like if the partirs to the marriage was marriage before and where the marriage details.